Comparison of 352 MHz Linac Structures for Injection into an Ion Therapy Accelerator

Proceedings of the 14th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC '23) 2023
Lazar Nikitovic, Toms Torims, Maurizio Vretenar

In the frame of ongoing initiatives for the design of a new generation of synchrotron-based accelerators for cancer therapy with ion beams, an analysis of linac designs has been started, to address a critical element with a strong impact on the performance and cost of the accelerator. The goal is to identify alternatives at lower cost and a similar or possibly smaller footprint than the standard 217 MHz injector presently used in all carbon therapy facilities in Eu- rope. As an additional feature, a new linac design can be tailored to produce radioisotopes for treatment and diagnostics in parallel with operation as a synchrotron injector. In this paper, the attractive option of moving to 352 MHz frequency is analyzed, to a profit of reliable mechanical designs already developed for protons and of the cost savings that can be obtained using Radiofrequency (RF) power sources klystrons with a much lower cost per Watt than tubes or solid-state units. The paper is presenting a Quasi- Alvarez Drift Tube Linac (QA-DTL) version of an injector linac for carbon ions at q/A=1/3 and compare it with Inter- Digital H-Mode DTL (IH-DTL) designs. The option of a Separated-tank IH-DTL structure (S-IH-DTL) is also dis- cussed, along with a standard IH-DTL, both at 352 MHz. Finally, a DTL design at 352 MHz for the injection of fully stripped helium ions into the synchrotron is presented.

Keywords
Linera accelerator, ion therapy
Hyperlink
https://www.ipac23.org/preproc/pdf/TUPA177.pdf

Nikitovic, L., Torims, T., Vretenar, M. Comparison of 352 MHz Linac Structures for Injection into an Ion Therapy Accelerator. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC '23), Italy, Venice, 7-12 May, 2023. Venice: JACoW Publishing, 2023, pp.1721-1724. e-ISBN 978-3-95450-231-8. ISSN 2673-5490.

Publication language
English (en)